The Paranormal Database

Headless Man

Location: Sutton Coldfield - New Hall Hotel and Wylde Green Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1820s onwards
Further Comments: This headless figure is thought to have been a local man mistakenly found guilty for being a Jacobite spy. The man was executed, and his head left in an oak tree where it remained until the 1820s - the tree was cut down and the skull rediscovered. Since then, the headless phantom is said to walk around the area (or the head rolls around looking for its body, depending on the source).

Mary Ashford

Location: Sutton Coldfield - Private house along Penn's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: The ghost of a young girl has been observed here, closely matching the description of Mary Ashford, murdered in the early nineteenth century.

Old Man with a Walking Stick

Location: Sutton Coldfield - Private residence, Wylde Green area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1967, 02:00h
Further Comments: While staying in a converted attic, paranormal writer Mike Coutts encountered a smartly dressed old man holding a walking stick in the early hours of the morning. The figure vanished when Coutts turned the light on. The author also said that the tapping of a walking stick would be heard moving up the staircase towards the room. According to the local press, Coutts had only spent a couple of weeks at the property many years previous and was looking for help to find the exact location where his encounter occurred.

Tiny Frogs

Location: Sutton Coldfield - Sutton Park
Type: Other
Date / Time: June 1954
Further Comments: Baby frogs, no bigger than a thumbnail, were said to have fallen from the sky during a heavy rain shower. The downpour lasted for around five minutes, depositing thousands of the amphibians.

Man in Red Cloak

Location: Sutton Coldfield - The Gate Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This brightly cloaked figure is one of two figures which haunt this building - the other is named as a lost cavalier.

Man on Bench

Location: Walsall - Bentley Cemetery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2010
Further Comments: Walking home from the gym, a witness walked past the cemetery and spotted a man sitting on a bench. The figure looked in his seventies and wore glasses. The witness turned briefly took his eyes off the figure, during which time the man vanished. The cemetery was locked up and no one else could be seen.

Patter of Doggy Footsteps

Location: Walsall - Private building along Lysways Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: A woman living here at the time reported twice hearing what sounded like a small dog following her down the staircase, late at night. On both occasions, when she turned around nothing could be seen.

Pneumatic Drill

Location: Walsall - Private house, Bloxwich Lane
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: February - March 1962
Further Comments: Bangs at the volume of a pneumatic drill would keep this family (and their neighbours) awake at night. Housing officers and police attended the scene, and although their opinions are not documented, a visiting metaphysicist declared a dead family member to be attempting communication.

Young Girl

Location: Walsall - Private house, Tennyson Road, Blakenall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1999
Further Comments: The ghost of a two year old girl drove a family from their home along this road - the father stayed in a caravan in the garden, while other members of the family moved away until the activity died down.

Hooded Figure

Location: Walsall - Private residence, Highgate Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1960s
Further Comments: A witness reported encountering a hooded figure which resided at this site. Their experience of the entity was not negative or hostile, although it did take a dislike to other occupants of the house.

Ethel

Location: Walsall - Starting Gate public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: February 2003
Further Comments: This entity, named by locals as a former Black Country landlady, has been known to clean and tidy up after messy customers have left.

Bangs

Location: Walsall - Tattooist, George Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 02 July 2011
Further Comments: A worker in this shop reported loud bangs, as if someone were jumping up and down, emanating from an empty room. The door to the room also opened twice on its own accord.

Randy Spirit

Location: Walsall - Victoria House, Leamore
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1990s
Further Comments: The building was haunted by a male presence that entered two ladies' beds at night, placing icy hands over their bodies. A ghostly figure was also spotted in the building lift and would move furniture around in empty flats.

Serving Girl

Location: Walsall - White Hart Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in Victorian clothing, it is though this girl was a maid who took her life in the building.

Ghostly Lover

Location: Wedley Castle - Shenley Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: March 1978
Further Comments: The News of the World covered the story of Jenny Price and the ghost that made love to her in a house down this street, for a period of three years.

A pack of Gabriel Hounds.

Gabriel Hounds

Location: Wednesbury - General area
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Gabriel Hounds, demonic dogs that could fly, would often be heard in this region. Other witnesses thought they were geese.

Grey Lady

Location: Wednesbury - Ye Olde Leathern Bottle public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 30 January 2022
Further Comments: This pub is reputedly home to a phantom grey lady. It is not clear whether this is the same entity which tugged at a customer's clothing in 2022.

Shout

Location: West Bromwich - Bus Station, and different bus routes
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: September-October 2017
Further Comments: A shout has been heard coming from the back of a bus when the rear seats are empty.

Old Lady Looking In

Location: West Bromwich - Manor House (currently a public house?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A small ghostly face has been observed looking into the building after the lights are put out - the same figure has also been observed inside. Another shade, a bearded man, also haunts the property, while guests have reported hearing strange whisperings and singing coming from empty rooms.

Prodding

Location: West Bromwich - Old Oak House Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: This location, which doubles as a 'ghost hunting experience' by night, is claimed to feature entities which prod and push witnesses.

Zigzagging Lights

Location: West Bromwich - Sky over Hateley Heath
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 25 July 1997
Further Comments: This witness observed between ten and twenty slow moving lights zigzagging across the sky in formation. Each light was semi-transparent, yellow with a red centre and moved silently from the south east, heading towards Walsall.

Duncan

Location: West Bromwich - Victorian house along the high street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1939
Further Comments: The sound of a woman repeatedly calling out the name Duncan until her voice rose to screams haunted this property for a three month period. The sounds of someone walking around the house could also be heard once everyone had gone to bed. The family later found out that a murder had occurred on the site a few years prior to them moving in.

Pauline Kelly

Location: Willenhall - Rough Wood Chase Local Nature Reserve
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Local stories tell of three phantoms said to haunt this area - a mad nun, a suicide, and a white woman. Although not much is known about the first two, the white woman is said to be Pauline Kelly, who vanished in the mid-nineteenth century along with her daughter. Her shade is supposed to appear if 'white lady, white lady, I'm the one who killed your baby' is spoken.

Singing

Location: Wolverhampton - Atlantis Nightclub, cellar
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: A former cinema, this building is home to an entity that laughs, smashes glasses, and sings in the style of a club singer.

Puma

Location: Wolverhampton - Disused railway line
Type: ABC
Date / Time: Early 1980s
Further Comments: This large brown cat was blamed for attacking a dog being walked by a child. It was seen a few times walking along disused rail tracks in and around the Wolverhampton area.